🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Blue Owl’s software loan lands as it tries to calm investors after market turmoil

• Blue Owl has faced investor unease. Its stock has fallen about 60% over the past 13 months after it permanently closed the redemption windows on one of its roughly $1.6 billion funds, OBDC II 1.
• Some of the worry comes from Blue Owl’s large exposure to private equity-backed software companies. Investors fear generative AI could disrupt business models and valuations 1.
• Blue Owl recently sold $1.4 billion of loans across three funds at about 99.7% of par value (the face value of a loan). The firm and some analysts said the sale supports the valuation of its loan book 2.
• The new Nexthink loan adds to Blue Owl’s exposure to software, a central part of its approach despite investor pushback 1.

An employee-experience software deal ties to ongoing tech demand

• The financing fits the Digital Employee Experience (DEX) software category, which grew quickly as hybrid work spread 3.
• Nexthink’s revenue grew from $100 million in 2020 to $294 million in 2024. That growth tracks demand for tools that monitor and manage technology across complex work setups 4.
• In private credit, the deal says capital still backs buyouts of fast-growing companies with established financials, even as retail inflows into large funds cool 5.
• The loan also pushes back on broad fears that AI will hurt all software. It frames firms that deliver IT visibility as AI adopters rather than targets 1.